11 November 2008

We don't hear much about Iraq these days. Want to know why? The War is over. It is still a dangerous, somewhat unstable place, but the situation is generally much improved.

We don't hear much about Afghanistan either, aside from Democrats complaining that we haven't done enough there. It is true that efforts in Afghanistan have played second fiddle to Iraq. With Iraq's improvements we can refocus efforts there, as Obama has promised. Michael Yon is a veteran embedded journalist and has some advice for our President-to-be:

Whatever else, Mr. President-elect, this is no time to go wobbly. It is important to note that some top British and U.S. commanders believe that we can make a “success” out of Afghanistan. We’ve learned a few things over the past seven years. We’ve truly got a “dream team” of military commanders with great in-theater experience to advise and guide the next phase. They saved Iraq. Use them well, Sir.President-elect Obama says he is serious about Afghanistan. (Just don’t fumble Iraq, please.) As he must be learning in intelligence briefings, it’s going to be tough stuff. It will be like solving a human Rubik’s Cube during a firefight while the media screams every time you make a wrong move — or what is perceived as a wrong move — and there is a clock ticking and at some unknown point the Cube self-destructs.